6 December 2020

Hooray! Lockdown is over! Now, we’ve moved on to a Tiered Lockdown which is, in our case, just about the same as the previous lockdown. Hooray!

It’s been a good if quiet week. The weather has been fairly miserable apart from one lovely sunny day on Tuesday when we had a chance to trudge around the Edgecote Estate. Apart from that it’s been cold, misty, foggy and drizzly. Thank goodness we don’t need to go out.

Last Saturday was the Moreton Pinkney Garden Club annual dinner which, this year, was virtual. This usually takes place in the Village Hall and is one of the highlights of the gardening year! Outside caterers prepare a scrumptious meal, there’s lots to drink and everyone has a grand time. This year, of course, it was impossible to hold the dinner in the Village Hall so the Garden Club committee came up with the splendid idea of a virtual gathering.

A local firm, which generally caters for weddings and other outside events, provided the meals which arrived at everyone’s front door in the early afternoon complete with instructions on how to re-heat and/or finish the cooking. There was a Zoom gathering organised for 7.00 pm where everyone gathered online to hoist a glass of Prosecco before scoffing down their dinner. There were some quizzes and games to complete over dinner (no looking at the internet for the answers) and then a post-dinner Zoom gathering at 9.00 pm to share the answers and general reactions to the meal.

It has to be said, given the circumstances, the meal was a great success. Everyone shared a special event and most folks reckoned the meal was terrific. Unfortunately, neither Pen nor I agreed although sharing it virtually with everyone else was fun. Pen followed the reheating/finishing instructions to the letter but our meal was decidedly undercooked. The lamb that I had was “good” but not great and Penny’s tart was pretty dry and tasteless. Our vegetables, however, were on the edge of being raw and even an additional microwave zap couldn’t really rescue them. Comments from other diners were more positive so either their meals were better cooked before they arrived or they were merely being polite. Still, as an occasion it was terrific – another way the Garden Club has engendered community spirt during these wacky times.

It’s that time of year – there was an article in the Guardian with some photos – the “people’s choice” – from the International Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. We’ve been many times before and we’re always astonished by the quality, beauty and/or poignancy of the photographs. It’s always one of our “go to” exhibitions when we get the chance to go up to town but this year, I think, we may have to make do with the virtual exhibition.

From the “You Couldn’t Make It Up” department this week: three prominent MPs, one of whom was the Health Secretary himself, claimed that the rapid approval in the UK of the first Covid vaccine was possible only because we were no longer in the EU. Hooray for the Brexit Dividend! A fourth MP claimed that approval for the use of the vaccine came through so quickly because the UK has much better scientists than France, Belgium or the US. We are, apparently, a “much better country than every single one of them.”

Of course, it’s nonsense and yet another Brexit lie. The vaccine was approved for use using EU protocols so Brexit, in this sense, is/was an irrelevance. But these muppets are so keen to try to deflect scrutiny of the coming shit storm that they will say and do just about anything. And, to claim that it’s because we have better scientists is just bonkers. While our scientists are no doubt excellent, the vaccine was developed largely by German scientists and, in a blow to the racist Brexiteers, by a couple of Turkish immigrants. And, it is produced in Belgium.

The only area in which the UK can still claim to be “world-beating” is in the number of deaths per population from the disease. Only Spain and Italy have more deaths per 100,000 and it’s easy to see why. We have a dithering Prime Minister who has consistently been behind the science and the restrictions introduced have been too little, too late and the relaxations too quick and too widespread.

In another example of how you couldn’t make it up if you tried, the Brexit negotiations are going down to the wire. These are, of course, the negotiations to determine what our future trade arrangements will be with the EU. The looney Brexiteers want no deal with the hated European Union while businesses are aghast at the looming, doom-laden future.

One of the main sticking points is access to fish in UK waters and the UK government has insisted it will not give in and sell our fishermen (and women) down the river. So, at the risk of holding on to a political principle, the UK government is prepared, it seems, to sacrifice much larger and arguably more important aspects of the British economy. Keeping those employed in fishing and aquaculture happy (8,000 people) is seemingly more important than maintaining tariff-free access to the largest free trade area in the world for the automotive sector (683,000) or financial services (1,063,000), never mind all the hundreds and thousands of other businesses and industries who rely on trade with Europe.

I think most commentators reckon that there will be a deal pulled out of the hat at the 11th hour, what they are calling a “thin deal.” Most commentators also reckon it will be a disaster for the British economy, all of it avoidable and based on lies.

You could not make it up.

Finally, I ran across another article in the Guardian – 250 years of First Lady portraitures which was fun. I challenge you to see how many you can identify without looking at the label! I got all but two right of those pictured in the article but I fared much worse when trying to identify first ladies from the full list. It would help, I guess, if I could actually remember the names (and order) of all the presidents but that is well beyond me. Also, it helps if you realise that some of the “first ladies” were daughters rather than wives carrying out the hostess’ responsibilities.

Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, keep isolating as much as you can, wear a facemask when you go out and keep your distance. And keep safe.

Lots of love to you all,

Greg